Overview

The Annunciation described by Saint Luke is interpreted in terms of actuality in this painting, which was probably once the left wing of a triptych. The forms—even that of the archangel—seem to have weight and volume. Light and shadow play over them in a natural way, and with amazing skill, Jan van Eyck has distinguished between the textures of materials ranging from hard, polished stone to the soft, fragile petals of flowers.

Yet religious symbolism speaks from every detail, expounding the significance of the Annunciation, and the relationship of the Old Testament to the New. The structure of the church can be interpreted symbolically; the dark upper story, with its single, stained–glass window of Jehovah, may refer to the former era of the Old Testament, while the lower part of the building, already illuminated by the "Light of the World" and dominated by transparent, triple windows symbolizing the Trinity, may refer to the Era of Grace of the New Testament. The idea of passing from old to new is further manifested in the transition from the Romanesque round–arched windows of the upper story to the early Gothic pointed arches of the lower zone, and also in the depictions on the floor tiles: David beheading Goliath and Samson destroying the Philistine temple are both Old Testament events in the salvation of the Jewish people which prefigure the salvation of humankind through the coming of Christ.

Inscription

top of back wall to the right of furthest left figure: MOYSES F[I]SCELLA; above second figure from left: FI...PHARAONIS; on banderole: O IN VS HEBREORVM HIC EST; on globe in window: ASIA; above third figure from left: Moyses; on banderole: NO ASSVMES NOM DI TVI I VAN[VM]; above fourth figure from left: DNS; middle of back wall on left roundel: ISAAC; on right roundel: JACOB; to the right of Gabriel: AVE GRA PLENA; to the left of Mary, upside down and backwards: ECCE ANCILLA DNI; lower left on floor: A DALIDA VXORE S; lower center: SAVL REX; DAVID; GOLIAS; second row center: SAMSSON MVLTAS GENTES INTERFECIT T 9VIVIO

[1] C.J. Nieuwenhuys, Description de la Galerie des Tableaux de S.M. le Roi des Pays-Bas, (Brussels, 1843), 2, on the history of the painting says: "D'après les meilleurs renseignements qu'on a pu obtenir, ce tableau faisait suite à deux autres peintures du même maitre; il a été peint pour Philippe le Bon, duc de Bourgogne, et destiné à orner un monument réligieux à Dijon." S. Reinach, "Three Early Panels from the Ducal Residence at Dijon," Burlington Magazine 50 (1927), 239, published a fragmentary description written in 1791 of three paintings kept in the Prior's room, but originally in the ducal chapel of the Chartreuse de Champmol. This reads in part: "Dans la chambre du Prieur on conserve deux tableaux sur bois dans le genre des premiers peintres flamands, qui proviennent des chapelles [sic] des Ducs: ils ont environ 4 pieds de haut. Le premier, d'à peu près un pied de large, est un Annonciation..." Although the dimensions do not match those of the Gallery's painting, the general shape is similar and the tall, narrow format is rather unusual for a Netherlandish Annunciation. Nieuwenhuys' statement that the painting came from Dijon, coupled with the 1791 description, raises the possibility that 1937.1.39 is identical with the painting mentioned as being in the Chartreuse de Champmol. The manuscript is in the Bibliothèque Publique, Dijon, Ms. 88, fol. 53.

[2] Nieuwenhuys 1843 (as per n. 1 above), 2; in 1841 the works of art were transported from Brussels to a gallery built for them in The Hague.

[3] The Getty Provenance Index lists The J. Paul Getty Museum's copy of the auction catalogue as its source for the name of the agent Bruni (who is not listed in the provenance as it is published in the NGA Systematic Catalogue).

Ainsworth, Maryan W. "Religious Painting from about 1420 to 1500: In the Eye of the Beholder." In From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Painting in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Edited by Maryan W. Ainsworth and Keith Christiansen. Exh. cat. Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 1998: 79, 81-82, fig. 44.

Technical Summary

The painting was transferred from wood to canvas after it entered the Imperial Hermitage Museum, Leningrad, probably after 1864.[1] The picture has been extensively restored, though it is hard to say whether this was necessitated by the transfer or by previously existing conditions. Areas of craquelure have been repainted and the repaint has discolored; this is most evident in the background. Repaint is also present in portions of the angel's face and hair and in the Virgin's blue robe. It appears that large portions of the top glaze of the Virgin's robe have been lost and the surface has been altered by mechanical or chemical actions. The unsightly appearance of the robe is compounded by the fact that in certain areas the varnish has become opaque and milky. There are small losses in the book and the cushion.

Examination with infrared reflectography discloses underdrawing in several different areas. Parallel hatching and clusters of longer strokes can be seen in the Virgin's robe. Underdrawing exists in the face and hair and a portion of the wing of the angel Gabriel. The hem of Gabriel's robe bears an illegible inscription.[2] What appear to be perspective lines go through the capitals of the triforium at the left, and these indicate slight shifts of perspective. A diamond-shaped grid is underdrawn on the floor in the area depicting David slaying Goliath. There are broad indications of shadows at the edge of Gabriel's robe and thinner lines indicating shadows at the left of the stool.

[1] In the 1850 sales catalogue of the collection of William II the painting is recorded as being on wood, and Waagen 1864, 115, gives the support as wood. The earliest Hermitage catalogue available to me, that of 1870, lists the picture as having been transferred to canvas at the Hermitage.

[2] First observed by Carol Purtle. The author and Molly Faries, communication of August 1984, have noted that the first word is close to the cabalistic AGLA, which appears in the Ghent Altarpiece; see Panofsky 1953, 210-211; Elisabeth Dhanens, Van Eyck: The Ghent Altarpiece (New York, 1973), 75.